seen a tornado in my life. >> witnesses say it was nearly a mile wide. >> i'm determined to fix it now. this session, no more excuses, no more finger pointing, and no more in action. >> we're going to get to all those stories here on wusa9. but first, he added $417 million to the city's savings account and today, d.c. mayor, vincent gray, invited reporters. mayor gray is beginning to look like a candidate for reelection and a man no longer worried about a federal grand jury probe. >> what a difference a year or two can make. mayor gray decided a will lot of people are saying he could actually be the favorite. >> d.c. mayor no longer looks the part of a big city mayor under siege. >> how about a vest? no vest? >> do i have to wear that? >> you're the mayor.

>> i don't want to wear it. >> with $1.5 billion added to the city's reserves, a record low homicide rate and unemployment rate just above the national average, mayor gray is anxious to talk about the job he's done in two full years in office. should you decide to seek reelection? is it the kind of record you feel quite confident throwing out there in a campaign? >> it is, bruce. you know, what i look at is, what do we promise to do in the first place? >> he looked like an incumbent. even if he hasn't declared. there was a crowded tour of the 1175 room convention hotel it's a private partnership. the price tag, $520 million. we're talking over a thousand jobs, approximately 51% of them going to d.c. residents. >> it will be the largest in the city when completed next year. >> are we going to be able to have more groups, larger groups that will host their conventions here in the

district of columbia as a result of this. >> still concern about the federal probe into the campaign. three key campaign staffers pleaded guilty for their roles in the scandal. >> worried about those investigations. >> i lost that completely after my attorney. you are welcome to ask him. i have gone on how to run the city. >> involving the sky land, development in southeast, the administration could be forced to return $28 million to the federal government because it hasn't produced the records to show how the money was spent. >> i don't have any sense. we'll try to meet the documentation requirement. >> yet another source estimated the city could return about a million dollars to the federal government. now vincent gray clears that investigation and runs for a second term, he'll face at least two d.c. council members. the ward 4 representative and

tommy wells, ward 6 representative, they both said they are running regardless of what the mayor does. ward 2 councilman tells me he's in if gray is out. or gray decides to run, but looks like he can't win reelection. stay tuned. >> we will. bruce, thank you. pope benedict xvi shocked the catholic opportunity with a resignation. the pope said he no longer has the strength to do his job and will step down at the end of the month. it is the first paper resignation in 600 years. as for a replacement, right now, there is no clear front runner. >> who among this body has the qualifications, the characteristics, the spiritual gifts to fill that chair? >> the vatican hopes to have a new pope in place by easter. as for pope benedict, he will move into a monostair where he will dedicate the remainder of his life to prayer. pope benedict acknowledged and apologized for the catholic

church's priest abuse scandal. but some people, including david lorenze, think more needs to be done. >> i was something. >> at 16. >> by an adult priest. this thing is going to haunt them from now, for another thousand years until they stand up and address it and come clean. >> others say they stand behind and support pope benedict. >> same-sex partners will soon have access to the exact same benefits offered to their heterosexual counterparts. leon panetta signed off earlier today and it said, in part, it is a matter of fundamental equity that we provide similar benefits to all those men and women in uniform. panetta says those changes should happen over the next few months. president obama is expected to focus on the economy. tomorrow right niece state of the union speech. that remains the number one issue among voters. democrats and republicans say they are eager to hear the

president's plan to get more unemployed people back to work during his second term in office. >> the sooner we begin to address our fiscal problem, i think the sooner the economy will begin to improve. >> the president is also expected to ask congress to invest more in education, clean energy, and repairing the nation's crumbling roads and bridges. he'll take his state of the union message on the road later this week with atlanta and chicago. >> the los angeles police department has now received more than 600 tips on the where abouts of christopher dorner. he's the excop now killer accused of murdering a police officer and a young couple. police are offering a $1 million reward for information that leads them to dorner. and coming up on your only local news at 7:00, we'll show you how one man is using clothing to wage a war on bullying. >> see you then, derek. still ahead in this half hour,

crime friends on the metro. we'll tell you what happened in 2012 and what the agency is doing to keep riders safe in 2013. plus, a brand-new d.c. concert announcement to tell you about and we look back at a musical milestone here in our area. top. >> talk about the high and low today. it was a great day temperature wise. 54 officially. 38 was the low. average is 46 and 30. look at that record low, 15 below. that is the all-time record low for downtown. 1899. that was the year that ice slope in the mississippi into the gulf of mexico. we'll come back and talk about a possible winter storm wednesday

metro releases its report on crime today. a few of the big headlines in 2012 motor vehicle thefts and theft involving stolen items from cars are down 17 and 16 percent. they say metro rail's crime rate is lower than the jurisdiction it serves. however, metro has seen an uptick in these. that is crooks grabbing smart phones and other high-tech gadgets. in 2013, metro transit police will add 52 new officers, 26 will be used for the silver line. there will also be uniformed

officers riding along on the buses. >> she sold out her first show in minutes, beyonce scheduled a second performance at the verison center. that show will be july 30. tickets g on sale this friday at 10:00 a.m. and the prices start at just $48. ♪ [ music ] >> february 11, 1964, beetle mania hits washington, d.c. for the very first time. two days after playing on the ed sullivan show in new york city, the fab four played the washington coliseum, jam packed with teens. the poor sound system and screaming fans made it difficult for many to hear, but the audience loved it and on that night, the beetled ripped through classics like, i saw her standing there, i love you. >> you can feel the hysteria. >> still to come, why washington, d.c. is the place to be for women looking for a big paycheck. >> plus, a group of college

students put the heat on their school to combat climate change. >> and from mississippi to new england. we'll take a look at wicked weather working its way through parts of the u.s. the announcement no one on earth saw coming. benedict xvi becomes the first pope in six centuries to resign. we'll have the story tonight on

if you're a woman looking for a paycheck with zeros, you're living in the right place. according today data put together by forbes, the highest median income in the nation. that's a shade over $57,000 a year. rounding out the top five, san jose, california, comes in at number two. followed by bridgeport, connecticut, san francisco, california, and trinton, new jersey. ways that ordinary people can make an extraordinary difference. >> tonight, randall pinkston introduces us to college students who are trying to protect the planet. >> people who break into those groups that talk about that. >> these are pioneers against climate change. meeting on a freezing winter day in pennsylvania. >> what is our messaging? >> helped start a campaign two

years ago to pressure the school to sell investments. energy sources, including coal, oil, and natural gas. burning them releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and contributes to global warming. >> it's unconscionable for us to fund climate change. >> the movement has spread to about 2 00 campuses. the board says it is exploring ways to address climate change, but so far, like most schools, it has resisted the schools demand. >> we didn't stop. >> there's a rich history on american college campuses. in fact, the last big movement helped turn the tide against south africa's appartide. invest in some of the richest colleges. the nonprofit is helping to

organize today's campus campaigns. the name refers to the maximum safe levels of carbon dioxides. >> we have to create this dramatic sense that the industry is the problem. there is an alternative. >> students know they may have to escalate the fight. along the way, they are learning lessons about the power to create change. randall pinkston, cbs news, pennsylvania. >> wow. >> look at that. the governor of mississippi says tornadoes that hit the state yesterday injure more than 60 people, but no lives were lost. hundreds of homes were destroyed or damaged. hit hardest was the city and the college campus there, the university of southern mississippi. at least five deaths are being blamed on the blizzard that hit the northeast united states over the weekend. crews are still working to clear highways and other major roads and many cars are still buried under snow. many people, too.

forecasters say warmer temperatures are on the way and that should help melt all that snow. virginia governor is putting the pressure on senate democrats to pass a transportation plan. he held a news conference in tyson's along the dulles toll road to make an important point about funding and rising tolls. peggy fox joins us live along the toll road to explain. what does this mean to you and me, peggy? >> well, check this out. i mean, this is what it means to commuters. this is why we need a virginia it happens plan with dedicated funding. because we have the worst congestion in the country here in this area. the governor has a plan. it passed the house of delegates last week. it includes $300 million, which would go to finishing the silver line, phase 2, right there is the station of the stover line. it would take it out to dulles. now that plan passed the house of delegates. the governor came here where some of the leaders of the

senate live and he came to say, it's your responsibility, don't blow it. >> and i'm determined to fix it now. this session, no more excuses, no more delays, no more finger pointing and no more in action. >> the governor says he has exchanged cordial letters with dick sazla who blasted the governor's transportation plan because it would eliminate the gas tax. virginia's gas tax is 17.5 cents. it is the lowest around. democrats have been trying, but republicans have always resisted. now democrats hate the idea of getting rid of it all together. >> if virginia gets the reputation of having the lowest gas prices on the east coast, guess where everyone is going to stop on those trips from maine to florida? virginia. >> he is open to a plan that reduces the gas tax and increases the sales tax.

>> what they can't do is simply throw everything out and have a billion dollar gas tax increase. that will not fly. it will not pass. i will not sign that. >> republican led house passed his plan, which does include a .8% increase in the sales tax. the plan includes $300 million for construction of phase 2 of the metro silver line to dulles. without that money, tolls will sharply rise. >> it is critically important to have additional financing come to the toll road if we are going to mitigate tolls. >> bob chase is optimistic. >> this is the best chance we have had in a long time, but it takes people working together, putting partisanship and pledges aside and putting the interest of the people first. >> now the senate has already killed a number of transportation plans that came from its side. the senate finance committee may be taking up the house

transportation plan. we'll keep you posted. back to you. >> that traffic is bad. >> i suppose the good news is, they aren't sitting in traffic and trying to navigate through a whole bunch of snow. >> or even rain. it's a pretty quiet weather wise, any way, but you can see it doesn't matter, because when we get anything, it's not good. 54 today was the high. that's a deal. here's a live look outside. these are soccer fields in arlington and temperatures really haven't fallen much. we are 53 downtown. notice the dew points haven't fallen either. the winds are south, southwest. until winds turn northwesterly, we aren't going to get any cooler air in here. temperatures are not going to fall off the table tonight by any means. a lot of rain in the southeast for now. that stays to our south overnight. i am concerned the system will keep clouds in southern maryland tomorrow. we'll update that as we go through the night. we have clouds around the metro area, and again, hagerstown and martinsburg were in the 60s

today. a dry commute home. a beautiful tuesday. the next storm, wednesday afternoon, and then turning back to winter as we get into the weekend. especially toward the weekend. clear and breezy and chilly. winds will become northwest at 10 to 20. lows in the 30s is a good deal. in fact, upper 30s downtown and mid 30s in the suburbs. rockville and fairfax, 38 in college park. no one on this map gets below freezing tonight. tomorrow morning, plenty of sunshine, 30s and 40s. a little breezy. and by afternoon, very nice. mostly sunny, breezy, beautiful. winds northwest 10 to 15. high temperatures in the low 50s. now the next three days, great tomorrow. temperatures in the low 50s and then 9 weather alert yellow on wednesday because of the evening commute. you'll see some rain by then. rain will turn to snow as we get into thursday and thursday we salvage a good day. back into the upper 40s to near 50. cooler on friday and quiet. and then the arctic air comes in. the question is, where will

this storm develop? will it be closer to shore to give us any snow? right now, we'll say evening snow possible on saturday, morning snow possible sunday. blustery on monday. kristen will

now, here's kristen berset at the wusa9 cadillac sports desk. >> it's almost time to bring

out the natitude. baseball season around the corner. we are gearing up for the excitement. we have partnered with masn and the washington nationals for a new venture. you'll be able to watch nationals games here on wusa9. 20 in all. that includes opening day and select weekend games. wusa9's general manager says this partnership will be beneficial for all parties. >> the nationals have been competitive, very aggressive, and they mean a lot to this community and there are winners. we want to be winners with them. >> no april fools joke here. nationals open their season april 1 when they host the miami marlins. that game right here, wusa9. plus, live coverage of all the excitement, including the division title starting at 5:00 up until the first pitch. plus, spring training starts this week for the nationals and we'll have all the stories and goings on for you live from their spring home in florida.

that coverage begins wednesday night. >> being named super bowl mvp has its perks. a new corvette, a trip to disney world, and now after navigating the media circuit, ravens ravens quarterback is front and center. flay flacco joins hillfiger. he was joined in celebrating the debut of hilfiger's new line. >> i met him yesterday and he was such a great guy. such a cool person to meet and i mean, i have seen his clothes since i was a couple years old. >> joe flacco is an all- american guy. he is very big. big shoulders. we fit him well and we are very proud and honored to have him wearing clothes. >> i'm sure his life is loving being there for sure. time for our high school game of the week poll. several great games for you to choose for. of games you have to vote for,

catholic high school. and on the girls side, a big matchup. go on to vote at u.s.a.todayhighschoolsports.com dc. and text your vote on that site as well. >> and finally tonight, the mets first game. check out this fan walking behind the basket. see the guy behind the basket. he says he set the place a curse while he is shooting a free throw. and it works. it worked. >> okay. >> hey, whatever can get your team. >> they'll have a new rule. nobody goes behind the basket. >> all right, that's it for us. the cbs evening news is next. >> and derek is back at 7:00. good night, everybody.